The Heist (20 page)

“There are stairs! They go down and up.”

“Good, go down.”

“You crazy man! There’s no telling what’s down. The club has to be up, or the roof or something.”

“The way out is down! The way to the diamonds is down. There is no going back or up. Go!”

“Fine!” Into the darkness she went, careful and silent. Soon, the blackness parted to show a red glow around the bend.

“Sasha, you have to tell me what you see, I’m flying blind here, baby.”

“What if it’s hell?” she whimpered.

“Talk me through it. I’m there with you. C’mon, you can do this.”

“Okay, you’re right. I’m in a room and it’s um...it’s red.”

“Painted red?”

“No, yes, I don’t know, it’s red everywhere. I think it’s the light. Yes, the room has red lights. It’s really creepy.”

“I think it’s our mark. I’m almost positive it is.”

She stepped out of the stairwell. “I found it. The Devil’s Playground. Good grief, you should see this stuff.”

“Tell me what it is. What stuff? What do you see?”

She walked through turning in a full circle trying to make sense of the room. “There’s a pentagram, it’s um…painted on the floor with black candles circling it.”

“What else, Sasha?”

She lifted her gaze and noticed an altar. Above it was an upside down black crucifix. “I see an altar. It’s some satanic stuff. It has this black cloth covering it. And an upside down crucifix above it with Jesus’s head ripped off; there are some dismembered baby doll pieces, arms and legs and stuff. It looks like human skulls. Oh Christ.”

“What? Tell me?”

“These freaks have knives, sacrificial knives, and gosh, I think, there’s something on them.” Sasha stepped closer. She didn’t want to, but she’d seen too much to run away now. She was right; there was dark congealed red stuff on the knives and in a bowl. “Oh nasty!” She gasped, covering her mouth.

“Sasha, we’re running out of time. Do you see a ram’s head?”

“There’s blood in here.”

“Sasha! Look to the wall. Is there a ram’s head?”

Sasha let her eyes do the inspecting, afraid to touch anything or explore further. The room had a subterranean feel, the walls and floors were cement but weathered. It was cold and dank, with the stale stench of cooled wax and excrement. Somewhere there was something dead. She could smell it. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Sweetheart, do you see a ram’s head?”

Sasha didn’t see anything like what he said. There were curtains. There were long black drapes against a wall. She hurried over and grabbing a handful of the velvet fabric, moved it aside. “There’s another room, Kumar.”

“Thank God,” she heard him breathe.

The new room appeared strangely normal compared to the room of terror behind her even with the chain link cuffs dropping from the ceiling and the king-sized four-post bed. Strange carvings were on the headboard. The bed’s headboard was a depiction of Angels and Demons in sexual positions and orgies. The bed sheets were black and stained. Bile rose in her throat.

She walked closer, again detecting the rotted stench of death. She glanced around and saw no traces of blood or anything icky. But the stench was there. “Sasha? Do you see the ram’s head?”

Sasha lifted her gaze. Above the bed was a ram with huge horns that extended to the ceiling. “I see it.”

“That’s the safe!”

“Well, what the hell am I supposed to do?”

“Get under it, I’ll tell you how to unlock it.”

“On that bed? No!”

“Do it! Before they come! Now!”

Those words made her act. She hurried over and tried to climb onto the bed in her boots. The mattress moved under her feet in a big wave. “Damn it!”

“What is it?”

“A water bed! Good grief. Who keeps a water bed?”

“Interesting. That’s probably why the safe was placed over the bed.”

“What do I do? I can’t stand on it in these heels.”

“Can you move it?”

Sasha doubted it would move. The thing was huge. She put all her might into it and gave a hard pull. “Yes! It’s heavy, but it moves!” she cried excitedly. Sasha grabbed at the foot of the bed and dragged it from the wall. She needed something to stand on. Sasha looked around. There were two chairs to the wall, Victorian style with dark velvet cushioned seats. She hurried over, grabbed one, then brought it under the ram’s head. When Sasha faced it she gasped. “Kumar, it’s real!” She’d never been face to face with an animal before. Its dark beady eyes peered down the line of its snout and flared nostrils.

“It’s not real.”

“The hell it isn’t. The thing is looking at me.”

“Sasha, focus, damn it! We’re running out of time. Now there’s a button to the center of the throat. Find it and push it.”

She ran her fingers over the wool and shivered in disgust. Kumar was right. There was a tiny dime-sized button dead center to the throat of the beast. She pushed it and the ram’s head split down the middle with a mechanical grind. Both halves of the animal’s snout drew apart to reveal an oblong, double-reinforced steel safe with a center black dial. It was mounted into the wall. “I guess it’s not real,” she muttered.

“What?”

“I got it! I found it.”

“I knew you would, kid. Now hurry.”

“Wait…it’s a dual-lock system.”

“So two different combinations?”

“Yes, I need my stuff. Damn!”

“Then screw it. Let’s go, let’s get you out!”

“No, I’m here! I can do it. I think.”

Sasha cracked her knuckles. The dial had two turn knobs. So counting ticks could not be relied on. She would have to feel it. Putting one hand on the top part of the dial and the other on the second part, she slowly rotated them counter-clockwise, waiting for them to lock. First lock came twenty-three top, nine bottom.

Sasha reached in her bra and pulled out the thin eyeliner pencil she kept tucked to the side of her breasts in her corset. Her skin chafed and burned with relief at its removal. She wrote the numbers on her wrist. Sticking the pencil in her mouth, she then went for the second: ten top and twenty-eight bottom. Sasha took the pencil and scribbled again. The final turn bought out one top and fifteen bottom. She had her code. The other part would be luck or die. She would have to guess which one came first. She had a fifty-fifty chance of getting right.

“Kumar?”

“What is it?”

“Rawhead, what do you think, is he top or a bottom kind of dude?”

“What?”

“He’s gay right, or bisexual?”

“I have no idea.”

“Guess! Quick, is he a top or bottom dude?”

Kumar sighed. “Top.”

“See, I think he’s a bottom.”

“Sasha!”

“Okay, we will go with top, wish me luck!” She worked the dial combination, her tongue poking out as she concentrated, bringing the combination lock to a full release. “Holy crap, guess Rawhead is a top dude, after all!”

“You in?”

“Damn right, baby, I’m in!”

She reached inside and pulled out a black velvet case. When she opened it, four pink stones fell onto her hand, sparkling even in the dim light. Her breath caught. Sasha frowned, a distant memory flashing into her mind.

“
Pops, what are you doing?” She peeked into his room. He had passed out, a beer can in his hand. Sasha shook her head. Michelle wouldn’t have anything to do with him, but
she
would. He was her father. How could she turn away? She dropped her purse and closed the door. Pops rolled over on the sofa with an open-mouth snore. The beer can dropped to the carpet and fizzed with its spill. She sighed, going over to pick it up. When she rose, she accidently bumped the coffee table. The action caused the screen saver to blink off. Her eyes caught the enlarged photo of beautiful stones on the screen of Pops’ laptop. Leaning closer, she read they were a picture of an upcoming collection of rare, pink diamonds. She loved the idea of hot pink diamonds. Sasha read the caption aloud, “Raspberry Diamonds? Wow!”

“Sasha? What is it?”

“I’ve—I’ve seen these before.”

“Huh?”

“Pink ice! My dad was looking at these very diamonds a week before he died. On the Internet, Kumar. I remember them.”

“Time to go! Fuck it, babe, we can talk about it later.”

“Do you think Pops tried to steal these from Rawhead? No, he couldn’t get in here, then do you—wait, do you think Rawhead stole these from Pops?”

“Time to go! Now, Sasha! Go!”

She reached in and plucked the diamonds out of their hiding spot, then tucked them down in the small pocket to the side of her miniskirt. “How? Where?” she asked, closing the safe. She put the ram’s head back and it snapped shut. Removing the chair, she pushed the bed back to the wall. Everything was as she had found it.

“Not the way you came. Go to the left of the room. There should be a door.”

“Nuh huh, there are just curtains.”

“Move them.”

She did, searching until she found a door. She wanted to scream with joy when she did. She opened it and went into the darkness. “What is this?”

“I don’t know, but there's something in the floor, it leads to the pipeline. It’s the way you get out.”

“The sewer?”

“You got a better plan?”

“Crap! Wait, what is this room?” Sasha had to go for the penlight she kept tucked in her boot. She rose shining the tiny beam over the wall, not able to make out much. She then saw a light switch. She flipped it up. “I found a lig—” Sasha gagged, then turned away and vomited. “Jesus! Jesus!” She nearly screamed but stopped herself.

“Sasha? What is it?”

“You don’t want to know,” she whimpered.

“The floor? Do you see a grate, or latch?”

***

Kumar heard her retch. “Sasha? What is it? You okay?”

“I…I….”

“Find the grate, there has to be something to get you out of there. Something that leads to the pipeline. Hurry. Whatever is in that room, you don’t want to be found there, do you?”

“I found it.”

He heard her grunting as she lifted the exit hatch.

“Get out!”

He listened as she dropped into something wet. He waited, hearing her pant as she ran. She kept going. He could do nothing but listen to her huffed breaths, and the sloshing and splashing of her feet along the bottom of the sewer drain for what seemed like an eternity.

“I see it. The opening. I see the end!”

“I’m coming for you, sweetheart!” Kumar got out of the van, running through the grass to where the pipe emptied and spilled out into the marshy lake beyond. The marsh was up to his knees. His feet were sinking. Sasha emerged. Her eyes stretched wide with fright, possibly shock. Kumar met her and scooped her up in his arms. Sasha broke into tears, clinging to him. She carried the foul stench of the sewer and its muck on her damp skin. He kissed her forehead then led her around to the van. Putting her in, he noticed what she was covered in. It was on him, too.
Blood
.

Chapter Eighteen

Michelle had never been seasick before, but the constant sway of the yacht and the salty aroma of the sea had her knees quaking and her stomach lurching. With the nausea becoming too intense, she rose from the seat next to Lee, escaping the dull conversation with Don Gio, who ogled her breasts the entire time he spoke. Lee watched her leave without complaint, for which she was grateful because sooner rather than later she would probably heave her margarita in his lap.

Hurrying toward the lower deck, she nearly collided with Cumminskey. “Excuse me!” she groaned, shoving him out of the way. He touched her hand as if to stop her but she kept going. Once inside the small bathroom, she spewed her breakfast, mixed with her lunchtime drinks. Sweating, she went to the sink to rinse her mouth, desperately trying to regain control.

“Are you okay in there?” Cumminskey asked, knocking.

“Yes, yes, I’m fine.”

“Can I help?”

“I’m fine!” she shouted.
Why the hell is he lingering?
Good grief. A quick check of her face in the mirror revealed her exhaustion. Flushing the toilet, she rinsed again then waited for evidence that her stomach was settled. Somewhat satisfied, she snatched the door open. Cumminskey stood outside, staring.

“I said I was fine.”

“No argument here. I thought I’d stay just to be sure.” He stepped forward, blocking her exit under the arch of the doorway. “I knew Pops well.”

“Yes, I know. He spoke of you often.”

“Did he? I heard a rumor,
Chocolat
. I’m just dying to know if it’s true.” He licked his lips and his eyes dropped to her breasts before making the climb back to her face. “The Jesus Stones.”

Her heart raced but her cool composure never wavered. “What about them?”

“You heard about the heist the other day? Job was flawless.”

“I think I heard something about it.”

Cumminskey stroked her cheek. “There was a guard who saw the thief. He said he could only remember that it was a black woman…a
sexy
black woman with a bad-ass kick.”

“Don’t touch me.” She knocked his hand away.

Cumminskey smirked with a confidence she didn’t like. He put an arm up and braced against the side of the door with his hand. Leaning forward, she was offered a whiff of his expensive cologne. If Lee were jealous of Rawhead, he would burst a vein if he walked in on the intimate scene between her and Eddie.

“Don’t worry,
Chocolat
. He only confessed to me…before I disposed of him.”

Michelle frowned. She assumed Lee had killed the guard. Why would Eddie intervene? “I don’t understand.”

“Just know that they don’t call me ‘The Butcher' for nothing. Your secret is safe. Even from Lee.”

“I had nothing to do with the Jesus Stones.”

Cumminskey drew back. He touched his chest as if wounded. “Now I’m hurt. After all the effort I went through to make sure your identity remained secret, you lie to me. Here I was thinking that one good turn deserved another.”

“Such as?”

“Ever heard of the Golden Chalice?”

Michelle pushed past him. Cumminskey captured her hand. She looked back as he brought it to his lips. Michelle pulled her hand from his, and then walked off. There were too many players. And she was bait amongst these sharks. After all the maneuvering, she only had more questions. It was time that Lee gave her some answers.